Nearly 200 members of the same family live together in one house in India, it has been revealed.

The Chana family, said to be the largest in the world with 181 members, reside in a 100-room, four-storey house in Baktawng.

Ziona Chana, 67, is head of the family and has 39 wives, 94 children, 14 daughters-in-law and 33 grandchildren, the Sunday Mirror reports. His youngest child is five.

"I consider myself a lucky man to be the husband of 39 women and head of the world's largest family," said Chana, who is a construction worker.

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His first wife, 71-year-old Zathiangi, organises all domestic aspects of the family's life. She said: "I am the eldest and have been married to Ziona the longest. Everyone in the family respects me."

There is a rota system to determine who shares Ziona's double bed each night. The other 38 wives sleep in communal dormitories when it isn't their turn.

Son Parliana, 50, said that the reason his father - who belongs to a sect which permits men to marry multiple times - has so many wives is so that he can support the poor and orphaned women in the local village.

He said: "He's not just head of this house but also the leader of 4,000 people of the Chana sect."